101 on Being An Actress
by regulusgal
Summary: Maria's being casted as protagonist for her school's play! But no worries; her actor friends and dear grandfather are coming to rescue!


**I'm supposed to type Chapter 3 of "The Next Episode", but I'm desperate to get this story out of my mind. The idea has been sticking to me since Christmas, and I realize that I haven't done justice for dear Maria.**

**You might as well guess the reference for Lory's cosplay, courtesy of mrs. zala and GinGitsuneIX. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skip-Beat!**

* * *

Lory Takarada was used to doors being barged open without announcement. Having a very active 8 year-old granddaughter whose hobby was wandering around his agency building from the very top to the basement, added with a certain impatient actor under his care, he had experience it too often for his liking in LME, especially his office.

Not that he was one to complain, though, or else people would start judging him as a hypocrite.

But there he was, dressed in a very baggy, thick kimono-like clothes and a brown ragged robe and a replica of lightsaber hung on his obi, sitting on his plushy, comfortable chair and going over tons of paperwork that he had left abandoned the day before when he had busied himself playing with Kala the Gorilla – the newest addition to the so-called 'Lory's Friends from the Jungle' – when his office's doors burst open and he felt someone tackled him on his abdomen only to give him a bear hug.

"Grandfather!" Takarada Maria squealed happily, not paying attention to the fact that her grandfather had to double over because of the pain. "You'll never guess what happened today!"

"Hello, Maria," Lory greeted his little darling once he could get over the sudden tackle. "How are you today?"

The brown, curly-haired girl lifted her head to reveal an excited toothy grin. She said happily, "My school's going to have this 'Nutcracker' play for Christmas celebration!"

"Hoo… And?" Lory asked, knowing that he just needed to probe for Maria to tell him more.

"I was casted to be Clara!"

He could not help but smile with pride and joy for his little girl. "That's great, Maria! Will I be able to see it?"

"Of course, Grandfather!" Maria answered, as if his eccentric grandfather was asking something obvious. "In fact, I'm also going to invite Big Sister, and Ren-sama, and Kanae-san, and Yashiro-san, and…"

Lory's attention perked when he noticed her voice dying down. "What's wrong, Maria?" he asked worriedly, not liking the sudden sad expression on her face.

"Will Father want to come see it?" she whimpered, fearing the answer.

He smiled softly. Leave it to Maria to feel pessimistic towards his workaholic son. "He won't miss it. Of course, unless you opt not tell him about this."

Maria's beam of smile came back. "You're sure? Thanks, Grandfather! You're the best! I'll email him straight away!"

It was silent for a while, and the young gingerette had not released Lory from her bear hug. Instead, she was gloom again, making him wonder what was wrong this time. "Anything else, Maria?" he asked.

"Grandfather," she mumbled. "I just realized this."

"Yes?"

"If Father's going to come and see the play, then I'll have to make it to be the best."

"Uh-huh?"

"And for the best play, the best actors and actresses are needed." Maria was almost brimming with tears. "Grandfather, I don't know how to act properly! Like Ren-sama or Big Sister!"

_"Dear Lord, no one's going to expect such elaborate performance from elementary kids!"_, is what he wanted to say, or at least scream inside his head, but he did not want to make the matter worse for his beloved granddaughter.

"Maria," Lory began softly. "I'm sure no one's expecting you to act like a professional actress."

The little girl frowned. "But don't you think it'll be better if I at least know how to act like one so I can make sure I won't mess up?"

"Well," Lory stammered, completely dumbfounded, "that may be true, but–"

"I know!" Maria suddenly exclaimed with a wide smile, relieving her grandfather of her weight as she stood straight up. "I'm going to ask Big Sister!"

And she ran off, leaving the still dumbfounded Lory alone in his office, surrounded by his waiting paperwork.

* * *

**_Lesson #1: The Script is The Law_**

Maria had lived almost all of her life running around LME that no one was exactly worried that she would get lost. The girl had memorized every room and every corner of the building, also the habits of her grandfather's employees that were close to her, enough to make guesses of where to look for the person she was looking for.

After getting out of the president's office, Maria ran straight to the first place she could think of when she wanted to look for Mogami Kyoko, her beloved Big Sister: the LoveMe room. When she had first heard about this division, the only thought that had run in her childish – yet mature at the same time – mind had been, _"Is Grandfather finally going totally crazy that he establish this idiotic division with idiotic name?"_

That had been when she had still thought that Takarada Kouki, her father, had not loved her, and any form of love except her deep crush on Tsuruga Ren had been useless. And of course, that had been before she had known that the chestnut-haired girl she had admired when she had sneaked her way into the LME's newcomer audition had been a member of the division.

Now she thought of the LoveMe members as her best friends who would always come to her rescue. How she needed them to do that at this moment.

Maria finally reached the door with 'LoveMe Department' written on paper and stuck on it, and opened it without knocking first. There, to her disappointment, she could not find the person she was looking for.

Instead, she found the second best solution to her problem.

There, sitting on a chair, was Kotonami Kanae, staring at her with widened eyes. Next to her was a short, medium-length-haired girl Maria did not recognized, peeking from behind Kanae's shoulder to look at their intruder with pure curiosity.

"Hello, Kanae-san!" Maria greeted cheerfully. "Have you seen Big Sister around?"

Kanae frowned a little. "She's not here, as you can see. By the way, can't you at least knock first? Mo."

"Kotonami-san," the other girl spoke up. "Who's this?"

"Ah," Kanae mumbled in realization. "I guess you haven't met her, huh. This is Takarada Maria, President's granddaughter."

The short girl smiled. "Hello there, Maria-chan," she greeted. "I'm Amamiya Chiori, the newest member of LoveMe Department. Nice to meet you!"

Maria stared at Chiori, trying to figure out why this new girl seemed familiar. And then she remembered. "You're Yumika from Big Sister's 'Box-R'!"

"Yes, I am," Chiori replied, raising an eyebrow. "You watch 'Box-R'?"

"Yes!" Maria said with a big smile. "And Big Sister is very amazing in it! I adore her innocent, evil look!"

Chiori smiled wryly and turned to Kanae. The taller ravenette shrugged her shoulder uncaringly. "She's talking about Kyoko, if that's your question."

"Your parents allow you to watch 'Box-R'?" Chiori asked Maria in disbelief. "Aren't you a bit too young to watch it?"

Maria stared at her in confusion. "But Grandfather never says a thing when I watch it, though?"

She was met with dead silence from the LoveMe girls, until Kanae decided to break it by clearing her throat. "Anyway," she said, "it's clear that Kyoko's not here. And I don't know when she'll be here."

"I see," Maria mumbled sadly. But a second later, she lifted her face with a determined expression. "Kanae-san," she called in a serious tone, mildly surprising Kanae. "Can I ask you a favor?"

_Are you sure you're not asking the wrong person?_ Kanae thought. As she recalled, this is the first time the little gingerette ever asked for her help. "Err… Sure?" she answered, a bit fearing what the Takarada heiress was going to ask her to do.

"Really?" Maria beamed. "So can you teach me how to act?"

Silence once more filled the room. Kanae was again the first one to let out a voice. "What's this about?"

"You see, I'm playing the protagonist for my school's Christmas drama, and I'm going to invite my father to watch, so…"

Although Maria did not finish her sentence, Kanae had already guessed what the girl had wanted to say. She leaned into her chair and let out a big sigh.

"Okay, how to say it…" the oldest of the LoveMe members began, trying to make it as simple and fast as possible. "Acting is just about following the script. Memorize it by heart and you'll be just fine."

Maria tilted her head. "So I just have to read the lines?"

"Not exactly," Chiori chirped in, noticing that her senpai did not really want to say anything anymore. "You also have to pay attention to the intonation when you deliver your lines."

"Intonation?" the little girl repeated in confusion.

"Uh-huh," Chiori nodded. "Different tones picture different emotions, even for the same sentence."

"For example," Kanae spoke up suddenly. "You remember the play 'Angel's Tears' from the training class last year? The one you hated?"

Maria's spirit was lifted up. "I remember! Big Sister was super amazing in it that it brought me to tears!"

Kanae and Chiori sweat-dropped while looking at the little girl sparkling with adoration towards Kyoko. "Uh, the point is," Kanae continued, "you saw both the one done by the students and the one done by Kyoko. Although the lines were the same, Kyoko used different intonation compared to the one used by the student playing Flora. And that created a totally different atmosphere, right?"

Maria nodded her head in fervor.

"That's what Amamiya-san meant."

"Then how should I know if I have to say a line cheerfully or angrily?" the gingerette asked.

Kanae huffed. "Mo! That's why you follow the script! It'll tell you exactly how to deliver each line. You get it?"

"I think so," Maria answered slowly and thoughtfully, the gears in her head working to absorb the lesson. She then smiled and bowed to the two ravenettes. "Thank you very much!"

And with that, she left the LoveMe room. It was silent for a while, until Chiori asked, "How old is Maria-chan?"

"8 years old. Why?" Kanae asked back.

"Hoo… 8 years old, huh?" the girl next to her murmured darkly. Chiori's forehead was taut with a deep frown, and she quickly grasped the closest paper and pen she could reach and started writing furiously in it.

Kanae swore to herself that it was better not to ask anymore question or to have a peek on her writing, whatever it was.

* * *

**_Lesson #2: Probe and Shape Your Character_**

Maria contemplated what Kanae and Chiori had taught her while strolling without destination along the hallway, looking at her 'Nutcracker' script. She paid special attention to Clara's lines when she stopped walking.

She just realized that although there were directions for actions, her lines did not have notes on expressions she had to display.

_Oh no! _Maria thought. _I guess I'd better go back and ask Kanae-san again_. She turned around only to almost bump into a pair of strong, long legs clad in black pants. She looked up and immediately smiled brightly when she realized who the owner of those legs was.

"Ren-sama!" She quickly raised both of her arms as a silent plea to be held.

Tsuruga Ren chuckled at her antics. "Good afternoon, Maria-chan," he said as he bent down to gather the girl in and lift her up with his strong arms. Beside him, stood Yashiro Yukihito, Ren's manager.

"Hi, Yashiro-san!" Maria greeted politely. The bespectacled man smiled gently at her as a reply before asking, "What are you doing, Maria-chan? It's dangerous to read while you're walking you know? By the way, what're you reading? You seem really immersed in it."

Maria scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Err… It's the script for my school's Christmas drama."

"I see," the dark-haired giant of an actor said, smiling softly at her. "Are you going to be in it?"

"I'm casted to be Clara."

"Clara?" Ren raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze towards the cover of the script. "I see… 'The Nutcracker', huh? That's nostalgic."

Maria's interest perked at that. "Have you acted in 'The Nutcracker' before, Ren-sama?"

"When I was a kid, if I remember correctly. You're the protagonist then? I think a congratulation is in order." Yashiro nodded his head in agreement.

She did not know what to say other than a shy 'thank you'. It was a rare occasion to be congratulated by her 'prince'.

"So you were in the middle of studying the script?" Ren asked again.

Maria nodded. "I asked Kanae-san and Amamiya-san for advice, and they told me to just follow the script while paying attention to the intonations, but…"

"But?" the tall man repeated questioningly. "What they told you is correct, so what's the problem?"

"The script said nothing about Clara's expression!" Maria finished with a pout.

Ren and Yashiro looked at each other before turning back to Maria. "Maria-chan," Ren called her gently. "May I see the script?"

The girl nodded meekly before being set down by her favorite LME's employee – now do not get her wrong; she adored Kyoko like crazy, but Kyoko and Ren fall into different categories – and handing him the script.

Ren leaned back on the windowsill and started skimming through the rather thick bundle of dialogues for an elementary student's play, while letting Yashiro to have a peek on it. "I see," he finally said when they finished reading. "So now you're not sure about the intonations you should use to deliver the lines, am I correct?"

Maria nodded with enthusiasm.

"Hmm…" Ren hummed, thinking about what to say to the little gingerette he considered a sister. "I guess… when it comes to this, you'll have to think more about character building."

Maria's face was totally blank as she tried to discern the heavy term Ren just used – heavy for her, at least. "Pardon?"

"You see, Maria-chan," the tall actor crouched down to meet her eye level. "When the director don't give any specific details on how he wants the character to be played, actors usually think more about the character's personality; how the character thinks, behaves, and so on. Eventually, they'll find the most important aspect of the character, and begin expanding the details of how they want to portray it."

She still stared at him as if he had been talking in foreign language. Ren scratched his head while grinning sheepishly at Yashiro.

"I'll try different approach," he said. "What do you think of Clara?"

Maria tapped her chin, falling deep in thoughts. "She's pretty," she murmured. "Kind-hearted… Too innocent for her own good–"

"Whoa," this time, Yashiro was the one who cut in. "Why did you say that?"

"Because," Maria argued, "she just obeyed when the Mouse King asked her to hand in her sweets and dolls. Isn't she stupid? If I were her, I'll just tell Grandfather and have the Mouse King killed by pest exterminator. Or try to nail him onto a voodoo doll and curse him."

The two adults could not help but laugh at her reasoning, making the little girl pout in displeasure. It took some time for them to tone their laughter down, and when they finally calmed themselves down, Ren spoke again, "But she has tried telling her parents, and they don't believe her, right?"

She nodded slowly. Ren smiled again. "Now imagine the Mouse King threatens to harm… for example, Mogami-san, and President and Kouki-san refuse to believe you when you tell them. Pest exterminator won't be called because the adults don't believe you, and voodoo doll doesn't work. And so, you have no other choice but to give in to the Mouse King's demand. Is it still too innocent for you?"

"I guess not," Maria mumbled slowly.

"But you've found some crucial things about Clara," he encouraged her. "You just have to find more and then expand them into details. Put yourself into Clara's shoes once you've gotten the grasp on her traits, and then the emotions will come naturally."

"Really?" she asked, not being sure about it – she knew what Ren had told her was true; he was Japan's number 1 actor! She just did not have the confidence if she could do it up to the standard.

"Uh-huh," Ren hummed. "And I can't wait to watch the play; I have the feeling that you're going to be magnificent. You'll invite me, right?"

She nodded again, her cheeks blushing. "It's on the 20th; will you be able to come?"

Both of them turned around to look at Yashiro, who had busied himself to look up his note. "You're lucky," he said. "It's your whole day off."

"Then I'll be sure to come," Ren said to Maria. "Thank you for the invitation. I'm honored."

Maria giggled.

"And why don't we help you practice?" he offered suddenly.

"'We'?" she repeated, not sure on who the other person he was talking about was.

"I'm sure Mogami-san will be _really_ willing to help." _And I'm sure she will when you mentioned the title. She'll be elated to have a chance of playing a fairy, _Ren thought.

Maria's eyes widened due to excitement. "You and Big Sister will help me practice?" She launched herself at the much taller man happily. "Thanks, Ren-sama! You're the best!"

Ren patted her on the back before being released. "I'll come over to your place tonight?" he asked.

"Sure!" she replied. "I'll tell Big Sister!" And she left.

The two men stared at her retreating figure with gentle smiles for a while before Yashiro spoke. "You told her the same thing as what you told Kyoko-chan."

"What?" Ren asked, not catching what Yashiro meant.

"The character building," the fair-headed man explained. "Didn't you instruct Kyoko-chan on the same way as you did Maria-chan just now? If you're not careful, Ren, you might gain another kouhai after this."

The heartthrob barked a hearty laugh at that.

* * *

**_Lesson #3: Relate to Personal Experience_**

True to Ren's words, Mogami Kyoko had been more than elated when Maria had told her about the drama practice. She had been more than ready to help when Maria had asked her for a favor, but her excitement had escalated when she had gotten the big fat chance to deliver the lines of the Sugarplum Fairy and Princess Pirlipat – although she did not really like this character.

Maria so far had done well acting as Clara; she had gotten the hang of the appropriate intonations and expressions for her lines. Kyoko was absolutely proud of her 'younger sister' and sure that the play would be spectacular.

That was why she was surprised to saw Maria being gloomy on the corner of the room when she and Ren came to Lory's house for their almost daily practice that evening.

She hurried to Maria's side to comfort the little girl. "What's the matter, Maria?" she asked softly.

"We had rehearsal today at school," Maria said, clearly unhappy. "And then Rika-chan said that my smile when I receive the nutcracker looked fake. It's just receiving a present politely, right? I just can't get the feeling of excitement for it. I mean, it's just a nutcracker."

Kyoko and Ren glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes before Kyoko gathered Maria in her arms for a comforting hug. "Maria-chan," she began. "May be you can try imagining it from your own experience."

Maria looked up at her big sister's face. "Eh?"

"Do you remember the time when I gave you Tsuruga-san's doll on the Happy Grateful Party last year? You were super happy that time, weren't you?"

"I was," the gingerette answered.

"So why don't you relive the memory? Instead of Uncle Drosselmeier, it's me giving you your present, and the nutcracker is…"

"… Ren-sama's doll!" Maria finished the sentence for her, a smile on her face, flickers of eureka moment in her eyes.

Kyoko's smile widened at the sight of that. "Correct," she said. She glanced to her senpai only to see him looked uncomfortable. "Tsuruga-san?" she called him. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong," Ren said quickly. "It's just that I was reminded of that ridiculously detailed doll you made based on your fantasy of me–"

Her face was instantly ablaze with deep blush. She quickly cut him off. "I told you to use the term 'OBSERVING'!"

* * *

**_Lesson #4: Enjoy What You're Doing with All Your Heart_**

"So how have you done so far with the play, Maria?" Lory asked her the night before the big day.

Kouki had come back from his work overseas for holiday, and he had immediately agreed to come watch Maria's play. That night, he had to go to his office in Japan due to an emergency, but he had promised Maria that he would settle the matter before the play began.

"I'm still not sure, Grandfather," she mumbled, fidgeting in her seat. "What if I suddenly forget my lines? What if I do something that mess things up?"

"Oh, Maria," the flamboyant man sat down beside her on the couch, pulling her closer to him. "You'll be fine, alright? You just have to enjoy all of it."

The little girl looked up at him. "Enjoy it?"

"That's right," he nodded his head. "When you enjoy doing something, nothing will go wrong. That's the secret of your Ren-sama and Big Sister – of all actors and actresses."

She smiled widely and hugged him tight as a symbol of her gratitude.

* * *

"And that was 'The Nutcracker' by the students of class 3-A Sakuragaoka Elementary! Kindly give a big applause for their amazing performance!"

The big hall was filled with handclaps, applause, and cheers from the audience. Maria bowed down to them on the stage together with her friends and teachers, not able to stop smiling with a happy flush on her cheeks.

In the middle of the audience, she could see Kouki, Lory, Kyoko, Ren, Kanae, Chiori, Yashiro, and her Uncle Tiger looking at her proudly with smiles. Her heart swelled with joy.

She had learned successfully to be an actress. A step closer to the people she admired the most.

And her father was smiling.

That was the best present she could have ever wished for.

* * *

**This is my first time handling Maria and Chiori. OOC?**

**Please review :) Thank you!**


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